Overclocking with Gigabyte P35C-DS3R and Intel Q6600

Overclocking/Overclocking Tests by KeithSuppe @ 2008-03-27

Overclocking successfully requires a mix of the right components, we take a closer look at the pinnacle of affordability and performance product from Gigabyte, the P35C-DS3R, testing with a Quad Core Q6600 we see how we can fly with a water cooled CPU and some spicy DDR2 memory modules.

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Gratis Introduction

Gigabyte P35C-DS3R:


Madshrimps (c)


Over the past years an ever increasing number of articles featuring products by Gigabyte begin with the obligatory statement: "Gigabyte needs no introduction.." Ironic how saying nothing about a company can say so much. Gigabyte is a mainstay with 22-years in this industry converting like dog years compared to any other. I purchased my first GA-7VRX KT333 board over eight years ago. That was when $125 would buy the best board on the market. Times have changed but some things haven't. Gigabyte's Dual BIOS still remains a mystery to me and fortunately for the consumer Gigabyte is still building feature rich, performance oriented motherboards for an affordable price. The P35C-DS3R (Rev. 1.1) is no exception. Removing everything from the box reveals a spread of ancillaries including SATA-II cables with locking mechanisms. A nice detail.

Madshrimps (c)


Essentially Gigabyte's P35C-DS3R is a hybrid DDR2/DDR3 version of their P35-DS3R with the following DDR2/DDR3 memory supported. Insofar as processors the board supports most Socket-T processors including current Wolfdale and Yorkfield cores for those in a 45nm frame of mind. Gigabyte also provides a current list of supported processors and BIOS revisions required to run them. Another nice detail.

Specifications:

CPU
  • Supports Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad-Core / Core™2 Duo / Intel® Pentium® Extreme/ Intel® Pentium® D processors
  • Supports 1333/1066/800 MHz FSB

    Chipset Northbridge:
  • Intel® P35 Express Chipset

    Southbridge:
  • Intel® ICH9R
  • Gigabit Lan Controller
  • 8 Channels ALC889A Audio controller

    Memory DDR3:
  • 2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 4 GB of system memory
  • Dual channel memory architecture
  • Support for DDR3 1333*/1066/800 MHz memory modules

    DDR2:
  • 4 x 1.8V DDR2 DIMM sockets supporting up to 8 GB of system memory
  • Dual channel memory architecture
  • Support for DDR2 1066*/800/667 MHz memory modules
    * Please refer "Memory Support List" for memory support information.

    Expansion Slots:
  • 1 PCI Express X16 slot /'3 PCI Express X1 slots
    3 PCI slots

    Form Factor:
  • ATX form factor, 305 x 245mm

    Internal I/O Connectors:
  • 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
  • 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
  • 1 x floppy disk drive connector
  • 1 x IDE connector
  • 8 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors
  • 1 x CPU fan header
  • 2 x system fan headers
  • 1 x power fan header
  • 1 x front panel header
  • 1 x front panel audio header
  • 1 x CD In connector
  • 1 x S/PDIF In header
  • 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
  • 1 x power LED header
  • 1 x Chassis Intrusion header

    Back Panel Connectors:
  • 1 x PS/2 keyboard port
  • 1 x PS/2 mouse port
  • 1 x parallel port
  • 1 x coaxial S/PDIF Out connector
  • 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
  • 1 x serial port
  • 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
  • 1 x RJ-45 port
  • 6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/Rear Speaker Out/Side Speaker Out/Line In/Line Out/Microphone)

    Madshrimps (c)


    BIOS:
  • Supports Virtual DualBIOS
  • 1 x 8 Mbit flash
  • Use of licensed AWARD BIOS
  • PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.3, ACPI 1.0b

    Other Features:
  • Ultra Durable 2 Motherboard
  • All Japanese manufactured solid
  • Over-clocking Enhanced

    Comments:
  • Due to different Linux support condition provided by chipset vendors, please download Linux driver from chipset vendors' website or 3rd party website.
  • Due to most hardware/software vendors no longer offer support for Win9X/ME. If some vendors still has Win9X/ME drivers available, we will publish on website.
  • Duo to chipset limitation, Intel ICH9R RAID driver does not support Windows 2000 operating system.

    For what might be considered a "budget" board, the list of features is substantial. Onto topology...

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    Comment from thorgal @ 2008/03/27
    Nicely written Keith ! Good thing you linked to Anand : the vdroop article by Kris is one of the best OC articles I've ever come across!

    Did you play around with the tRD (static tRead value) setting to try and increase FSB above 445 ? You should also have a look at Kris' follow up article to the vdroop article, and see what's the impact of tRD.

    Only pity in the review imho is the fact that DDR3 was not tested at 400x8 as well, then we could have comparable results to DDR2. At 266FSB DDR3 on this board seems slightly faster.
    Comment from Massman @ 2008/03/27
    Good job, Keith, liked the extensive text and the test

     

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